Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 11; 2 Kings 12
Second Kings 11 and 12 are a record of the reigns of Athaliah and Joash over Judah.
Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah and the wife of Joram from the house of Ahab (8:25-27), destroyed all the royal seed (11:1).
Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram and sister of Ahaziah, hid Joash the son of Ahaziah in the house of Jehovah for six years while Athaliah, the grandmother, reigned over the land (vv. 2-3).
In the seventh year Jehoiada the high priest devised wisely to anoint Joash, and the people recognized him as the king with joy, clapping their hands and saying, "Long live the king!" (vv. 4-12).
Athaliah reacted to the enthronement of Joash by tearing her clothes and crying out, "Treason! Treason!" (vv. 13-14). Then according to the instruction of Jehoiada the high priest she was killed outside the house of God (vv. 15-16).
In 11:17—12:21 we have an account of the reign of Joash (Jehoash) over Judah.
Jehoiada the high priest made a covenant between Jehovah and the king and the people that they would be Jehovah's people. He also made a covenant between the king and the people. Then all the people went to the house of Baal, broke it into pieces, shattered Baal's altars and images to pieces, and slew the priest of Baal (11:17-18).
At the age of seven, Joash was enthroned by the people with rejoicing (vv. 19-21). Since Joash was still a boy, he was greatly helped by the high priest.
Joash began to reign over Judah from the seventh year of Jehu and reigned for forty years in Jerusalem (12:1).
Joash did what was right in the sight of Jehovah all the days in which Jehoiada the high priest instructed him. However, the high places were not removed, and the people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places (vv. 2-3).
Joash repaired the house of God with the offerings by the people under the management of the priests and the servants of the king, those who were faithful. But the money from the trespass offerings and the money from the sin offerings were for the priests (vv. 4-16).
Hazael king of Syria came up to seize Jerusalem. Joash king of Judah sent him all the things which had been sanctified by his fathers and by himself with all the gold in the treasuries of the house of Jehovah and the house of the king, and Hazael departed from Jerusalem (vv. 17-18).
Although Joash was a good king, he was murdered by his servants. He was buried with his fathers in the city of David and was succeeded by his son Amaziah (vv. 19-21).
In reading the history of the kings and considering what is portrayed by the types, the main thing we can see is division. Division comes out of people's ambition, that is, the desire to be higher than others, to be the head, the ruler, and the king of the people.
In the New Testament the oneness of the Body of Christ is stressed very much. According to the Gospels, the followers of the Lord Jesus loved Him to the uttermost, giving up their country, home, and relatives to follow Him for three and a half years. During that time the most pressing issue among them was the matter of who would be greatest. Even during the final trip to Jerusalem, when the Lord Jesus was burdened to tell them once again about His crucifixion, they quarreled over who would be the greatest (Matt. 20:20-28; cf. Luke 22:24). The mother of the sons of Zebedee, James and John, came to Him with her sons and asked that they would sit, one on His right and one on His left, in His kingdom (Matt. 20:20-21).
In His last night on earth, the Lord Jesus spoke to His disciples at length of the depths of the divine revelation concerning God's economy (John 14—16). Following this, He offered a concluding prayer to the Father in John 17. In this prayer He repeatedly asked the Father to keep all the believers in the oneness of the Triune God. The Lord Jesus prayed for them based upon the life of the Triune God, the name of the Father, the truths concerning God's economy, and the glory (vv. 11, 17, 21-23). From that time the disciples became faithful followers of the Lord. After His resurrection and ascension, they even stayed together in Jerusalem and prayed for ten days in one accord (Acts 1:14). When the Lord was poured out upon them as the Spirit at Pentecost, the church life began. However, division gradually came in.
I would ask you to consider, according to the New Testament, what was the first division to invade the church. I believe that the first division came in when Barnabas left Paul. After Saul — later Paul — was saved directly by the Lord and baptized by Ananias, Barnabas brought him into the fellowship of the Body. The believers in Jerusalem were afraid of Saul because he had been a persecutor and a devastator of the church, but Barnabas was bold to bring him to Jerusalem and recommend him to the apostles to be brought into the fellowship of the Body (Acts 9:26-28). Later, Paul and Barnabas, intimately related, were among the prophets and teachers in Antioch (13:1) and were eventually sent out by the Holy Spirit for the work to which He had called them (v. 2). When they first went out together, Barnabas's name was mentioned first (v. 7). But at Paphos a situation arose which required a stronger speaker, and Paul took the lead to speak (vv. 8-12). This indicated that, although previously Barnabas had been taking the lead, he was not as adequate as Paul, who now took the lead to speak. From that time Paul's name always came before Barnabas's in the divine revelation. For a time Paul and Barnabas worked together quite well. Later, Paul proposed to Barnabas that they visit the churches that had been raised up. Barnabas first proposed and then insisted on bringing his cousin Mark. Paul did not feel good about this because Mark, unable to bear the hardships of the journey, had retreated on their first trip. Because of this disagreement, Barnabas left Paul (15:36-39). After that, there is no mention of these two being together again. That was a division.
In serving the Lord in the Body of Christ, our heart must be single and pure. There was something not so single and pure, perhaps something of ambition, in the heart of Barnabas. This issued in division.
Division became a problem to the apostles, who endeavored to keep the oneness of the Body of Christ. A division rose up in Corinth (1 Cor. 1:10-12), and Paul wrote to the church there concerning it. When Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, he said that the first virtue of the believers' conduct is to keep the oneness of the Spirit, that is, to keep the oneness of the Body (Eph. 4:1-3).
Throughout the centuries of church history, there has been division after division. During the past seventy years there have also been some divisions among us. According to my observation, every division is due to ambition. As a warning, I must tell you that in the past seventy years of the Lord's recovery no one who has created a division has ever repented. This is a very serious matter.
We should read the Old Testament history books not merely according to the letters in black and white but with a full view of God's economy on earth. If we have such a view, we will realize that the types in the books of history in the Old Testament show us that division brings in confusions, murders, and usurpations. Today, the entire Christian world is full of division, confusion, usurpation, and spiritual murder. Even among us there may be usurpation in relation to the eldership. Such an evil thing from Hades still remains in the Lord's recovery. You must be careful not to cause any divisions, for divisions are always damaging. If you cause a division, the first one damaged by the division will be yourself.
